Judge enters not guilty pleas for Huddleston

A Medford man accused of killing his wife after an alleged murder-for-hire plot declined to offer a plea Monday on a separate murder-for-hire charge.

By Sanne Specht

A Medford man accused of killing his wife after an alleged murder-for-hire plot declined to offer a plea Monday on a separate murder-for-hire charge.

Bourne P. Huddleston now faces charges that he and his sister attempted to hire a third man to murder one of the two would-be killers in the first murder-for-hire plot, after the pair testified against him.

Judge Lorenzo Mejia entered not guilty pleas for the nine new felony charges after Huddleston's public defender, Bob Abel, said he did not know enough about his client's new Measure 11 charges to feel comfortable entering a plea Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court.

After entering the pleas, Mejia told Abel he had 30 days to file an objection to the new indictment against the former gunnery sergeant, who already stands accused of murdering his wife, 34-year-old Kristy Huddleston, in March 2012.

Two men told a Jackson County grand jury that they had agreed to take money from Huddleston to kill his wife. The two men, including a 47-year-old Central Point man, were named as witnesses in an April 5, 2012, indictment by the grand jury.

The new indictment alleges Huddleston and his sister later attempted to hire another Jackson County man to kill the Central Point man after he testified. But the third would-be assassin instead testified before the grand jury in the same fashion as the previous two, court records show.

Huddleston, 44, has been held in the Jackson County Jail without bail, charged with murder and two counts each of attempted aggravated murder, solicitation to commit aggravated murder, attempted murder and solicitation to commit murder. He also is charged with possession of a silencer. The new charges are three counts each of attempt to commit murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder.

Huddleston's sister, Genetta Huddleston-Coradetti, has been arrested on identical charges in Florida, where she resides. She is in the process of being extradited to Jackson County, said Senior Deputy District Attorney David Hoppe.

Kristy Huddleston was found dead in the couple's Pioneer Road home on March 23, 2012. Borne Huddleston claimed she committed suicide in front of him, court documents state. He then left the body there along with their 10-year-old son, who was unhurt, and called police, according to the documents.

Kristy Huddleston worked as a nurse care manager for the Veterans Affairs Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics in White City. She helped returning veterans reintegrate into society following tours of duty.

Bourne Huddleston served in the U.S. Marine Corps from November 1988 to August 2009. He worked as an aircraft mechanic, martial arts instructor and recruiter. He served four tours in the Middle East, including two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

Hoppe said the cases against Huddleston are being consolidated, and will be heard by Jackson County Circuit Judge Benjamin Bloom.

No appearance date has been set for Huddleston-Coradetti. Mejia ordered a pretrial hearing initially scheduled for later this month to be pushed back until June 10.